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Tokina back on the A-mount

Nice to see. Also a much needed lens, the Sigma 10-20 was probably the best option for a Sony crop UWA up to this point. By most accounts this is the best crop UWA made, and of course it is the only f/2.8.

Probably means more Tokina stuff coming in the near future, but they don't make much more that isn't already available for Alpha.

It is an f/2.8 aperture ... wide and bright! Still seems a bit extreme.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

It's not a $1000+ lens, it comes in closer to $600 for the most part. There is a I and II for Canon and Nikon. The I and II for Canon are almost identical (I think the II has better coatings, but not a huge difference), but for Nikon the II adds an in-body motor so it can work for the motor-less D40, D60, D3000, D5000, etc. The IIs are around $600 list on Amazon, and the I was around $500, which is all you will need for the 7D.

However, the inflated prices are due to availablity. For some reason Tokina hasn't been making enough of these and some of the other lenses for the last several months. So dealers have jacked up the prices. This announcement pretty well shows that Tokina didn't go under or something. I expect that recession demand didn't drop as much as they expected, which kinda makes sense. Even though I personally consider the Tokina the best crop UWA because of the aperture, it probably acts like an inferior good to Canon, Nikon, and Sony's branded UWA lenses.

So for Ryan, keep an eye on the used market, or for smaller dealers, esp if they have the older version. For Sony users, don't pay more than about $700, but it is totally worth it.

What's in a lens' name?

Yes, the Tokina "DX" designation is the APS-C "crop" give-away ... if it were a Tokina Full Frame lens, it would only have a "D" in the name.

Tokina only has two lenses in its current offerings that are Full Frame capable, the AF 100mm f/2.8 MACRO "D" and the AT-X 840 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 "D", so keeping track is pretty simple -> Almost everything is for the little APS-C sensor.

I have updated the acronym list (2nd SONY DSLR "sticky" post) to reflect these designations.

BTW: There is no press release on the Tokina website to reflect this announcement (as of 2/3/2010). Maybe someone should tell them, too.

Last edited by DonSchap; 02-03-2010 at 09:31 AM.

Don Schap - BFA, Digital Photography A Photographer Is ForeverLook, I did not create the optical laws of the Universe ... I simply learned to deal with them.
Remember: It is usually the GLASS, not the camera (except for moving to Full Frame), that gives you the most improvement in your photography.flickr® & Sdi

It's not a $1000+ lens, it comes in closer to $600 for the most part. There is a I and II for Canon and Nikon. The I and II for Canon are almost identical (I think the II has better coatings, but not a huge difference), but for Nikon the II adds an in-body motor so it can work for the motor-less D40, D60, D3000, D5000, etc. The IIs are around $600 list on Amazon, and the I was around $500, which is all you will need for the 7D.

However, the inflated prices are due to availablity. For some reason Tokina hasn't been making enough of these and some of the other lenses for the last several months. So dealers have jacked up the prices. This announcement pretty well shows that Tokina didn't go under or something. I expect that recession demand didn't drop as much as they expected, which kinda makes sense. Even though I personally consider the Tokina the best crop UWA because of the aperture, it probably acts like an inferior good to Canon, Nikon, and Sony's branded UWA lenses.

So for Ryan, keep an eye on the used market, or for smaller dealers, esp if they have the older version. For Sony users, don't pay more than about $700, but it is totally worth it.

Didn't know about the variations Jason, thanks. I was commenting on the ~$1046 USD price quote from DPR. For my next trip, this is definitely a must have.